Devin Naar
Devin Naar, Isaac Alhadeff Professor in Sephardic Studies, Associate Professor of History, and faculty at the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, in Spring 2022 was appointed as a Fellow in the Race, Religion, and American Judaism project sponsored by the Center for Jewish Ethics and the National Endowment for the Humanities, for his project, “Our Own Worst Enemies: Historical Linkages between Anti-Black Racism and ‘Ashkenormativity’ in the American Jewish Community.”
The project focuses on themes Naar developed in a 2019 cover story for Jewish Currents called, “Our White Supremacy Problem: Exposing the Roots of Intra-Jewish Prejudice” and in public talks, such as “Between Privilege and Peril: Jews and Structural Racism in the United States,” which was part of the Racial Equity initiative of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.
The “Our Own Worst Enemies” research will culminate in an article for educators at the Center for Jewish Ethics to use in curricular materials.
He also has received a 2022-2023 Yiddish Book Center’s Translation Fellowship for translating from Ladino to English, the project, “New York’s First Ladino Novella: Simon Nessim and ‘Amerika! Amerika!’ (1917).” He is the first fellow working on a language other than Yiddish to receive the fellowship – a major milestone.
